I know that you focus primarily on Dennis, but the first bit in particular really made me think about their parents as well. I can't imagine how hard that must have been on them - they lost their sixteen year old son in a war they don't really understand and in a world they had no part in, and now they not only have to grieve for him, they also have to try to keep themselves together enough to be there for their fifteen year old son... who also has a foot and a half in the world that killed his brother. The tension between his parents over the psychologist/psychiatrist made a lot of sense, given that dynamic.

Tiny nitpicky thing, though - AFAIK, "shrink" usually refers to a psychiatrist, which isn't quite the same thing as a psychologist, and it's not clear to me from the context whether Dr. Miller is a Ph.D psychologist or a psychiatrist. It's entirely possible that Dennis's mother was just using whatever word she wanted without really caring about accuracy, but in case it wasn't intentional, I thought I'd point it out.

Beyond that, though, this was perfect, and I loved seeing Andromeda's appearance - she's absolutely used to pain, especially from the Second Wizarding War and especially due to blood status.

This was so moving and so amazing (and sad!) I definitely think having a really close friend/brother pass away is a really tough adversity to deal with, and I really liked how you showed Dennis overcoming that here. I loved the plot of the story, in that you chose Andromeda to help Dennis come to terms with his loss. I thought you wrote this really well. I could definitely feel the despair Dennis felt and all the tragic emotions from his conversation with Andromeda. I also loved that moment where the shrink asked Dennis to rate his feelings out of ten, and he instead replied with a colour. Something about that just really made me stop and think.

I thought your characterisation of both Dennis and Andromeda was perfect. The dialogue between them felt utterly believable and it was just so well written. It's so hard thinking of what Andromeda had to go through, and you definitely conveyed the difficulties of a loss extremely well through your amazing fic.

"Whatever limits you set yourself can be broken so many times." - I think this is a very true statement, people can be so incredibly resilient and it amazes me.
This was a very unusual pairing - I would not have thought to put these two together, but I really enjoyed the result of you doing so. I can't even imagine how much pain and suffering Andromeda has been through, leaving her family behind to make a new one, and then losing most of that one too. It's absolutely heart-breaking.
You wrote Dennis' grief really well, it poured off the page. I think you portrayed his guilt at meeting Andromeda so well - because it just seems to be part of human nature that people will always feel guilty for feeling bad when they know someone else has more reason to feel bad.
This was a very heartbreaking but lovely story to read, I really enjoyed it :)

*hisses angrily* I just get sO EMOTIONAL AT THE THOUGHT OF DENNIS AND AT THE THOUGHT OF ANDROMEDA AND THEN YOU DECIDED, "Hey, you know what would be a good idea? PUTTING BOTH THEIR PAIN INTO ONE ONE-SHOT!"

I'm sorry for the excessive shouting, but I am just so overcome with emotions at the moment.

When Dr Miller was talking to the 'stranger', I was very curious as to who it was and then you mentioned a lost husband, daughter and son-in-law and I hesitated and thought, "Oh no. Not Andromeda. Let's pretend it's not Andro--IT IS ANDROMEDA OH NO."

And can I just say, "Don't follow your brother into the grave, Dennis." was such an intense thing to say? Not only to Dennis buT TO YOUR READERS. AS IF WE NEEDED TO BE REMINDED POOR BABY COLIN IS DEAD.

Okay, I need to calm down. I'm sorry for being rude :(

But seriously, I loved this one-shot (well, 'loved' as in 'hated that you managed to make me cry in less than 1,500 words with your awesome writing') and I think you did magnificently with this one! ♥

Wahaha, that first section was so stilted and blunt, we could really feel Dennis’s pain so clearly because each line of dialogue was like a metaphorical stab to the heart and we could just feel the pain gushing out, and I really loved the techniques you used there to show that.

I think it was when Dennis went to see the therapist that I realised something really was wrong with him and it was much more than grief, much more than anything I could ever imagine and you wrote it so well it was so good. I think it was just his dialogue mainly and how it showed this detachment from the world and how he just couldn’t care about a thing, and that was a really interesting perspective to show in this story.

I really loved how it was Andromeda who showed him the light and the path back to normal life because I think a lot of people forget how much she did actually suffer and how she has had a really horrible and painful life, so it was really nice to see that she could use those experiences to help people through their own pain, and it was a really warm and fuzzy moment.

I really loved the spin on this prompt, it was so interesting to read!

This is so touching. Andromeda is the perfect person to knock some sense into Dennis, to show him he's not the only one suffering. I think you did very well portraying his grief, and Andromeda's as well. Such a great message in this story. I really enjoyed it - even though it's sad, it's also uplifting. Great job.

Author's Response: Hi! I'm so glad you think so! I agree, I was at a loss of what to do with Dennis which would involve him actually overcoming the adversity rather than succumbing to it, and then bam I'm gonna get Andromeda to talk to him. :P I'm really happy you think I portrayed their shared grief well, as I was nervous about that as well.

I'm really glad you enjoyed it and found it uplifting, thank you for this lovely review!